Thursday, May 20, 2010

What is the Air Force's Secret X-37B Space Plane Doing in Orbit?

Written by Nancy Atkinson and published by Matt on Thu May 20, 2010 12:12 pm via: Universe Today

Last month's launch of the US Air Force X-37B secret mini space plane has fueled speculation about the real mission of this vehicle and if it could possibly be used for a new type of military weapon. The X-37B launched on April 22, 2010 and has the ability to stay in orbit for up to 270 days.

X-37B ready to go. Photo Credit: Boeing

X-37B ready to go. Photo Credit: Boeing

While the Air Force provided a webcast of the launch, since then there has been no word — leaked or official – about the status of the mission. "There has been a lot of speculation about what this vehicle could do and what sort of capabilities it could provide to the U.S. military, and some of that speculation was based on more science fiction than fact," said Brian Weeden from the Secure World Foundation. "While a successful completion of the X-37B flight, landing, and turn-around will certainly be a significant step forward in reusable space vehicle technology, it is a long ways away from a single-stage-to-orbit capability."

Weeden has put together a fact sheet on the X-37B, looking at the technical feasibility of some of the proposed missions for the mini space shuttle look-alike, and says the there's almost no chance it could be used as a new weapon or a new weapon delivery system.

The X-37B will land unpiloted at Edwards Air Force Base in California. It uses solar arrays and lithium ion batteries to generate power instead of fuel cells like the space shuttle, a major reason why it can stay on orbit for much longer.

Weeden said that after looking at all the proposed missions for the X-37B, he concluded the most likely is probability is that it will be used as a flexible, responsive spacecraft to collect intelligence from space and as a platform to flight test new sensors and satellite hardware.

"One of the downsides to using satellites for collecting intelligence is that once they are launched they have a fixed set of sensors and capabilities," Weeden said. "The X-37B brings to space the capability to customize the on-board sensor package for a specific mission, similar to what can be done with U.S. reconnaissance aircraft such as the U-2 and SR-71. In many ways, this gives the X-37B the best of both worlds," he added.

Here's a brief look at the potential uses for the X-37B:

On-orbit sensor platform and test bed, with the ability to return payload. "What it offers that we have seldom had is the ability to bring back payloads and experiments to examine how well the experiments performed on-orbit," said Gary Payton, the undersecretary of the Air Force for space programs. "That's one new thing for us."

Given the R&D that likely was put into the X-37B, this approach probably isn't very cost-effective, but Weeden said this is the most likely use the spaceplane. X-37B payload bay could hold various sensors used for intelligence collection of the Earth from space, potentially including radar, optical, infrared, and signals/electronic intelligence suites to flight-test and evaluate new sensors and hardware.

Deployment platform for operationally responsive space satellites. Weeden said this has a midrange chance of being X-37B's mission, and he quotes Payton: "We could have an X-37 sitting at Vandenberg or at the Cape, and on comparatively short notice, depending on warfighter requirements, we could put a specific payload into the payload bay, launch it up on an Atlas or Delta, and then have it stay in orbit, do the job for the combatant commander, and come back home. And then the next flight, we could have a different payload inside, maybe even for a different combatant commander."

But given it still would be dependent on the availability of EELV, it may not have a very quick response time for launch.

On-orbit repair vehicle. Weeden said this option has a fairly low chance of being X-37B's real mission. While it could be used to rendezvous with malfunctioning satellites and repair or refuel them, the X-37B is limited in altitude (it has been rumored that it will have a maximum altitude range of 700 or 800 km (about 500 nautical miles), potentially high enough to access most Sun-synchronous satellites, but this is unconfirmed, plus not many existing operational military satellite components will fit in the X-37B cargo bay. And as the engineers who tried to figure out how to fix the Hubble Space Telescope robotically, without humans, on-orbit repair is extremely difficult, if not impossible.

On-orbit inspection of satellites. This option has a low potential, as well. The X-37B could be used to rendezvous and inspect satellites, either friendly or adversary, and potentially grab and de-orbit satellites. However, the X-37B cargo bay is much smaller than many operational satellites, and most of the space in the bay is likely to be filled by the required robotic arm and other gear.

Conventional Prompt Global Strike (CPGS) weapon or delivery system. Weedend says that chance of this being X-37B's mission is zero. It could be launched in response to a pending crisis and remain on orbit for a length of time to respond to high value/very time sensitive targets. However, since the X-37B re-enters like the space shuttle and lands at an estimated 200 mph (321 kph), this means it travels in the atmosphere much slower than a ballistic arc or a hyperkinetic weapon, so it would need to carry conventional explosives to do any significant damage. Also, after re-entry would be a slow moving, not-very-maneuverable glide bomb, easy prey for any air defense system along its path to the target.

Written by Nancy Atkinson and published by Matt on Thu May 20, 2010 12:12 pm via: Universe Today





Wednesday, May 12, 2010

7 Tips for Giving up Gossip

1. Recognize that gossip doesn't undo the situation you're talking about. It only puts in motion another situation based on negative feelings.

2. Know that comparing yourself to others is useless. Everyone has his or her own talents. In this way, give up jealousy and the wish to put others down.

3. Be aware of and transform your own thoughts, words, and deeds rather than commenting on those of others.

4. Train your mind to see others' positive qualities and discuss them. This will make you much happier than gossiping ever could.

5. Forgive, knowing that people do harmful things because they are unhappy. If you don't make someone into an enemy, you won't want to gossip about him.

6. Have a sense of humor about what you think, say, and do, and be able to laugh at all of the silly things we sentient beings carry out in our attempt to be happy. If you see the humor in our human predicament, you'll be more patient.

7. Practice saying something kind to someone every day. Do this especially with people you don't like. It gets easier with practice and bears surprisingly good results.


Good Practice!




Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Verguenza Raul! Hay que tener Verguenza

Me asombra que tengas tanto miedo a unas señoras que caminan por la calle en un domingo.

Impiden marcha de las Damas de Blanco

Correo electrónico Imprimir PDF

laura 1

Alejandro Ernesto / EFE

Por EFE
LA HABANA
Decenas de seguidores del Gobierno de Raúl Castro impidieron hoy, por tercer domingo consecutivo, el desfile del grupo disidente de las Damas de Blanco, que piden con marchas pacíficas en La Habana la libertad de sus familiares, opositores cubanos encarcelados en el 2003.

Seis miembros del grupo fueron objeto de un nuevo acto de hostigamiento a su salida de la misa dominical en la iglesia de Santa Rita, cuando se disponían a iniciar su marcha por la habanera Quinta Avenida, en una jornada en la que Cuba celebra elecciones para renovar las Asambleas Municipales (gobiernos locales) de la isla.
Como ya ocurrió el domingo 18 de abril, un agente de seguridad escoltado por dos mujeres policías comunicó a las Damas de Blanco que necesitaban un permiso oficial para desfilar.
Laura Pollán, esposa de Héctor Maseda, condenado a 20 años de prisión, reiteró a los agentes su negativa a acatar "órdenes verbales'' si las autoridades no entregan al grupo un documento legal sobre la prohibición de marchar por la calle.
En un formato similar al del pasado domingo, acto seguido decenas de seguidores del Gobierno portando banderas cubanas acorralaron a las seis mujeres y comenzaron a corear lemas revolucionarios y gritos contra ellas pidiendo que "se vayan''.
Entre empujones, el grupo disidente logró cruzar la calle hasta un parque a pocos metros de la iglesia de Santa Rita, seguido de la "contra-marcha'' que rodeó a las mujeres físicamente.
Allí los partidarios del Gobierno continuaron con sus lemas, mientras las seis mujeres permanecieron en medio del círculo en silencio y haciendo con las manos los signos "V'' de victoria y "L'' de libertad.
Las Damas de Blanco, que se identifican por vestir de este color como símbolo de paz, tienen por tradición realizar reuniones, protestas y marchas en las calles de La Habana con gladiolos en las manos para reclamar la liberación de sus familiares, condenados a penas de hasta 28 años de cárcel.
Hoy, el presidente del Parlamento de Cuba, Ricardo Alarcón, hizo, sin citarlas expresamente, una referencia a este grupo de mujeres, en declaraciones a la prensa después de depositar su voto para las elecciones municipales.
"Algunos que están por acá (en alusión a corresponsales), me sorprenden, yo los hacía en misa, allá en Santa Rita'', dijo


Monday, April 19, 2010

Apoya los nuestros! Cual te gusta mas!

puertorico Puerto Rico:


acuaticos
Aquatics
atletismo
Athletics
badminton
Badminton

baloncesto
Basketball
balonmano
Handball
beisbol
Baseball
bolos
Bowling
thumb_boxeo
Boxing
thumb_canotaje-kayak
Canoeing
thumb_ciclismo
cycling

thumb_ecuestre
Ecuestrian

thumb_esgrima
Fencing
thumb_futbol
Soccer
thumb_gimnasia
Artistic Gymnastics
thumb_hockey
Hockey
thumb_judo
Judo
karate-do
Karate-Do
levant_pesas
Weightlifting
lucha
Wrestling

thumb_mague
Skating
thumb_raquetbol
Racquetball
thumb_softbol
Softball
thumb_taekwondo
Taekwondo
thumb_tenis
Tennis
thumb_tenis_mesa
Table Tennis
thumb_tiro
Shooting
thumb_tiro_arco
Archery
thumb_triatlon
Triathlon
thumb_vela
Sailing
thumb_voleibol
Volleyball
thumb_voleibol_playa
Beach Volleyball
mayi
Rowing

Se acercan los Centro Americanos 2010

Ya faltan menos de 100 dias,
El Deporte de Tiro con Arco estrena facilidades nuevas, en el municipio de Cabo Rojo. Espero poder tomar fotos del fogueo y algunos resultados. El deporte de Tiro con Arco, traera gloria a este pais, sin duda alguna, y espero que las situaciones y circunstancias que sirven de escollo a los atletas en formacion se transformen o desaparescan para bien del deporte.

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

What Storm Troopers do on their day off

Stormtroopers aren’t fighting in battles every single day like you see in the Star Wars films. Here’s what they do when they have some free time.

Please visit the link!
These guys are great!

Rama
















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